The Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) was launched in November 2020 by the ESG Social Housing Working Group – a unique collaboration of 18 housing associations, banks, investors, service providers and impact investing organisations.

The SRS aims to reduce the ESG reporting burden and to work for organisations of all sizes. ESG has become an ever-present acronym when it comes to private finance and investment. The term refers to environmental, social and governance-related factors which can be measured in an organisation so that investors can consider whether their investment has a wider social impact, rather than just generating returns.

The ESG Social Housing Working was set up in 2019 in response to concerns ESG investment in social housing was being inhibited by the absence of a common reporting standard. As with many other sectors across the economy, there had been a multitude of ESG reporting frameworks, resulting in reporting that lacked transparency and was prone to inconsistency. Moreover, it was apparent many housing providers were being asked to report on ESG criteria not relevant to the social housing sector.

The Sustainability for Housing Board has published a revised version of SRS to incorporates changes proposed by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) after consultation with registered social landlords (RSL). The revised SRS covers 48 criteria across ESG considerations such as affordability, fire safety and net zero carbon emissions. These changes align the reporting criteria with the regulatory framework for housing associations in Scotland. 

The revised SRS comes as Link Group, a leading Scottish registered social landlord, has become the first housing association in Scotland to adopt the SRS.

The revised SRS metrics will assist lenders in measuring the levels of ESG criteria present within a RSL when assessing the amount of funding to be granted. This, it is argued, will help unlock investor capital, improve the flow of private capital to the social/affordable housing sector and provide quality affordable housing for all those who cannot afford to buy or rent in the private market.